Page 117 of Fighting For Light
“Oh? There’s more than one?”
“Yes, of course there is. You became my best friend first. Second, I found out I was having a baby. Which I have to admit scared the crud out of me at first and kind of still does. But…”
“Is there a third?” he asks.
“Well, I feel like it ties for two, but I kind of feel bad for saying that.”
“Okay, what is it then?”
“Marrying you,” I smile softly.
He chuckles, lifts my chin with his pointer finger, and kisses me. “That’s a good list. Mine is probably twice as long, though.”
“Twice?”
He hums and draws a circle on my back. “First is you, my best friend. I think the second is when I proposed to you. I’ve wanted you for so long. When I finally got my chance, I still couldn’t believe I got to do it. It was one of the best and most terrifying things I’ve ever done. Third was learning that you wanted me to really be this little guy’s dad. Becoming a father, a parent, scared me, like it did you, but I’m more excited than anything. Fourth was marrying you, obviously.”
I giggle. “Obviously.”
He chuckles. “Fifth was watching you walk down the aisle, but that kind of fits into fourth. So the other is when you kissed me in the hot tub that night. When you just…went for it. You hadmore balls than I did at that moment, and you said to hell with it all. That was the best kiss of my life. It changed everything. And sixth, well, this used to be first, but you changed so much for me, for all of us. But it was leaving our father.”
“Those are all good things.”
“Yeah, they are. They are all so much better than I deserve, that’s for sure.”
“You deserve to have a longer list,” I tell him.
“I could say the same about you,” he says.
“Maybe we should start combining our lists then.”
“I’d say we already started,” he says.
I smile into his chest. We definitely already started, and I can’t wait to add more good things to our soon-to-be very long list.
54
Kai
THREE WEEKS LATER
It’s been quiet sincewe sent the package with the hitman via a private jet. I don’t know what I expected, but silence wasn’t it. And the silence is what’s bothering me the most. It’s uncomfortable and puts me on edge. Liam has checked on things and hasn’t seen any kind of chatter. Which is, again, unnerving. Something is up. If anything, I’m surprised the Costas haven’t retaliated. At the very least because we killed one of their men and sent their hitman back to them, likely to his death. We figured if they were going to do something, facing them with the home advantage was strategically smarter.
Yet, nothing.
***
We finally arrive home, and the smell of bleach hits me the moment I walk into the house. I never got a notification of movement, but I would rather be safer than sorry. Liam and I check the house from top to bottom while Cordi sits in thedriver’s seat, ready to drive away with or without us. She was shaking as she got into the driver’s seat, but I will not take risks with her.
Liam and I clear the house. Afterward, I get Cordi inside before Liam says his goodbyes. She’s standing in the middle of our living room, and I know she can’t unsee it. It doesn’t matter if we cleaned it up. It doesn’t matter that it’s clear of that night because she can still see it.
“We should go furniture shopping,” I suggest.
She nods absently and rubs her belly.
“I’m going to, uh, take a shower,” she says, slowly climbing the stairs.
I release a breath and sit on the couch that needs to be replaced, too. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought her home.
